Letter from Parker Pillsbury, Concord, [N.H.], to William Lloyd Garrison, 12th Feb[ruary] 1841

Parker Pillsbury informs William Lloyd Garrison that a "County Convention" has been called to be held in Exeter, and opines that both Nathaniel Peabody Rogers and Stephen S. Foster will soon write Garrison concerning the occasion. Pillsbury requests Garrison's presence at the convention, and inquires if he might additionally be able to go to Dover and Portsmouth. Pillsbury comments that they are getting their ministry and pulpits into "a pretty considerable kind of a fix", and asserts that should cease publication of the Liberator should they be unable to find "50 clergymen" to organize against slavery, as it "cannot be abolished without them". Pillsbury relates to Garrison that William Williams, of the First Congregational Church in Exeter, who "drives the proslavery engine", excommunicated several members of his congregation who had withdrawn over their opposition to slavery. Pillsbury states that while a later church meeting restored them to the congregation, Williams' actions have alienated him from many of his allies.
Courtesy of Boston Public Library